Huichol
Wolf Shamanism and A.
muscaria
By Mark Hoffman
Entheos70@aol.com
Posted
3/27/02 at
www.entheomedia.com/huichol_wolf_shamanism/htm
Among
the Huichol, the celebrated yet highly esoteric practice of
“Wolf-shamanism” has survived as a best kept secret.i
Though little is known about the inner workings of this cultic
sub-group,ii
the fact of their sacramental use of the Amanita muscaria
mushroom has slipped through the veils surrounding this, the most
arcane of Huichol traditions.
While
it is true that the entheogenic emphases of Huichols in general, and
these shape-shifting, or nahual Wolf-shamans in particular, is
well-attested,iii
the present discussion concentrates on the lesser known and
previously unconsidered evidence for the role of A. muscaria
as “Wolf-peyote.”
The
Huichol Wolves
Wolf
nahualism, the practice for which the Wolf-shamans are best
known, is a form of shape-shifting in which the shaman internalizes
the tutelary spirit of the Wolf-ancestors, who are closely associated
with the origin of Huichol shamanism. The evidence suggests that this
transformational process is often achieved by means of entheogenic
sacraments, which are themselves designated ‘wolf foods.’iv
Shape-shifting into wolves and other animals is a universal theme of
archaic religion, being widely documented in both the Old and New
World. That this practice commonly involved psychoactive plants is
also well known.v
The
esoteric nature of this phenomenon is reflected in the Aztec-derived
term nahualism, meaning “something hidden.”vi
Indeed secrecy, like the faithfulness of the initiate to their vows,
is a matter of first importance among the Wolves and can be
considered a matter of life and death. The extremely serious nature
of these wolf-vows extends also to traditions concerning their
sacraments.vii
The
infamous secrecy of the Wolf-shamans must have deepened significantly
as the conquering Catholics stigmatized them as ‘sorcerers,’viii
the most diabolical connotations of this designation certainly being
reserved for the esoteric and influential Wolves, as well as other
shaman-leaders who resisted conversion.ix
There are also other reasons–botanical reasons–that
contributed to the labeling of certain practitioners as ‘sorcerers.’x
Having
earned the respect of their community by undergoing the preeminent
shamanic apprenticeship, they are considered the guardians of
critically important Huichol esoterica, especially that associated
with their wolf familiars. As Fikes points out, it is the special
responsibility of the Wolf-shamans to communicate with Kumukemai
(Father of the Wolves), who, along with Kauyumárie (Deer-person)
constitute the central complimentary dyad of Huichol culture-heroes.
Such communication is accomplished only in trance states
whereby the shaman unites with these tutelary spirits.xi
Unlike the majority of shamans who become consubstantial with
Deer-person by eating his peyote-heart, singing, and performing
communal rituals, the shamanism of the Wolves is practiced apart from
the community.xii
In
both cases it is essential that the shaman access an ecstatic state
(most commonly with the aid of peyote), which is considered a
necessary precondition to establishing contact with these spirits.
Ultimately, such communication plays no less a role in Huichol
culture than to maintain the natural and spiritual ecology of the
world.xiii
Wolf
Entheomythology
The
Wolves’ entheogenic complex of rituals and beliefs finds its
precedent at the heart of Huichol mythology, specifically the cycle
having to do with the origin and performance of the peyote hunt.
Belonging to the earliest stage of Huichol mytho-history, wolves are
thought to have shared a common ancestry with humans. In this
primeval role, they are also the first shamans and teachers and are
accordingly represented as culture heroes and role models in Huichol
mythology.
The
association of wolves with the entheogenic origin of shamanic wisdom
is made clear in several myths. One important creation narrative, as
told by Ulu Temay, opens with the half-wolves/half-humans living ‘in
darkness’ before the flood in their homeland of Nayarit. These
Wolf-people were the first to eat the deer-peyote, and thereby they
received “great wisdom in all things.” This fundamental mythic
event is the primordial prototype upon which the significance of the
peyote pilgrimage is ultimately derived. Every year this mythic hunt
is reenacted, the role of the Wolf-god Kumukemai being assumed by a
devotee who makes the annual peyote pilgrimage and brings offerings
to the Wolf-ancestors.xiv
Huichol ceremonial life revolves largely around the
all-important peyote hunt and the continuance of the compensatory
rituals for the martyred deer, both of which had been initiated by
the Wolf-ancestors.xv
Another
revealing myth involves five hunters (also called ‘ancestors’)
who are sent by Takutsi Yurameka (Grandmother Growth) to teach humans
how to hunt.xvi
The half-deer/half-human guardian of the corralled deer tells them
that they may only talk to the deer through the first hunters, the
wolves. As the wolves talk to the deer, trying to convince them to
leave the corral, five flowers of different colors (used initially to
call the wolves) are taken to the pen. Then,
“The
leading hunter threw the flowers into the pen and the deer ate them.
When the sun came up, the deer started to run and jump and go crazy
because the flowers made them ‘drunk.’ The flowers were like
kiéri and made the deer feel happy but confused, so they all jumped
out.”xvii
It
is clear in the telling of this myth that the wolves and the
inebriating flowers play an identical role; both encourage the deer
to leave their enclosure. When this fateful act was accomplished, the
wolves were finally able to demonstrate their hunting techniques to
humans.
Zingg
mentions several other interesting myths regarding Kauymáli,xviii
Elder Brother Wolf, which support our case for A. muscaria as
the entheogen involved. One in particular describes a punishmentxix
that leaves Kauymáli and his offspring with only one foot
and one good eye.xx
Despite the fact that a three-footed wolf would surely have been
pathetic enough, similar one-footedness, as well as the one-eye
attribute, have often been used metaphorically to describe fungal
entheogens in other cultures (in both the Old and New World).xxi
In
another remarkable myth recorded by Zingg, the intimate relationship
of Sun, Grandfather Fire, Elder Brother Wolf and certain “magic
stones,” (from which the Sun was born) is described.xxii
“Kauymáli, still in the guise of the two deer,
went to the sea and jumped in. He came out as little stones… The
little stones went to a cliff near Santa Catarina. Here they
remained at the place where the paraphernalia from the birthplace of
the Sun was deposited. With them were five rattlesnakes. Another
companion of theirs was the hiss-adder.
The Sun told the little stones, which were Kauymáli,
to gather the saliva of the snakes. Kauymáli anointed himself with
this stuff. There was also another rattlesnake, Táte Ipau (like the
peyote dancing staff). From this snake Kauymáli bit off the
rattles, anointing himself with the blood. He did this with all the
snakes. Thus he became very sacred.xxiii
I
direct the readers attention to the possibility that these ‘stones’
are intended to represent the button stage of A. muscaria
morphology, the solar and otherwise fiery attributes are especially
appropriate to this red mushroom.xxiv
In addition, the ‘stones’ gather the (presumably) poisonous
‘saliva’ of the snakes, and it is with this that the (one-footed,
one-eyed) wolf, Kauymáli is anointed. As Wasson and others have
shown, the sympathetic association of snakes and mushrooms, with
special regard to their relative venoms,xxv
is a universal theme. This is expressed also in our Figure 3,
where the association of the central mushroom and snakes is explicit.
xxvi
It
is important to note that the Huichol give mushrooms a special status
as one of the 'first plants'xxvii;
which were available prior to agriculture. These were brought from
the first world by Kauyumárie after this god transformed Tatei
Yurianaka into a gourd–the body from which this (second) world was
formed and the consenting receptacle of the seeds brought by
Kauyumárie to the new creation.
Yet
other interesting and suggestive myths exist which fall outside our
focus on Wolf traditions, and will therefore not be considered in the
present inquiry.xxviii
Though a thorough analysis of possible fungal elements in Huichol
mythology is called for, in the next section we see why, based on
prior ethnological investigations, we should expect such a study to
bear much fruit.
Ethnological
Evidence
The
best evidence of the ritual use of A. muscaria among the
Huichol Wolves was recorded in remarkable detail by Susan Valadez
whose informant, Ulu Temay, from San Andrés Cohamiata, Jalisco, came
from a long line of Wolf-shamans.xxix
He specifically describes the fly agaric as wolf-peyotexxx
and gives us a revealing glimpse into the secret religion of the
Wolf-people as well as the prolonged initiation process required of
them.
When
asked if the Wolves use peyote to stimulate their reputed ability to
communicate telepathically, Temay answered,
“No,
they do not eat peyote. They eat their own plants that make them feel
as though they had eaten peyote. They bring mushrooms which they eat.
This is a red mushroom with white spots. They use these mushrooms in
all of their ceremonies.”xxxi
Ramón
Medina Silva, a semi-urbanized Huichol shaman, also described the red
mushrooms which are eaten by Hewi (ancient) sorcerers in order
to transform themselves into wolves and foxes. This he depicted in a
detailed yarn painting (Figure 2), showing the characteristic
veil remnants and the universal veil, which identifies the mushroom
as Amanita muscaria.xxxii
This composition, like Figure 3 below, represents the two
‘sorcerers’ under the central mushroom, a motif seen elsewhere in
the context of underworld and death mythology appearing in Huichol
yarn paintings, pre-Columbian statuettes, funerary ceramics, and
elsewhere.xxxiii
While
interviewing a shaman-informant (whom he calls Serratos), Fikes also
encountered the “red and white mushroom,” which he was told went
by the name sorakai and was “a little bit of a shaman.”xxxiv
Fikes’ informant also discussed the Wolf-foods and include among
them another mushroom, different from the red and white sorakai,
which he calls yacüa. It was described as having ‘poisonous’
effects similar to kiéri.xxxv
Fikes was told that this mushroom is found growing on the roble,
a broad-leafed oak tree and were offered, along with rock torillas
and kiéri leaves, to initiates by the wolves.xxxvi
Another
yarn painting is reproduced here (Figure 1) which may betray
the botanical identification of Wolf-peyote.xxxvii
Though the object in question is common enough in yarn
paintings as a representation of peyote, the color scheme matches
that of the fly agaric. I hasten to suggest that, Temay’s
designation of A. muscaria as a type of ‘peyote’ more than
justifies the extension of the common artistic motif to include this
distinctive mushroom. In addition, since peyote is almost always
represented in a green color, this red over white color scheme can be
considered very unusual. Thus, it is less likely that the color
scheme, down to the light orange spots, is purely coincidental than
that it intentionally represents the fungal Wolf-peyote identified by
Temay.
According
to Temay, in the sixth and final year of Wolf-initiation, offerings
of copal, maize meal, maize beer and chocolate water are brought by
the aspirant to Muxia Uxiye, the most powerful of the Wolf-sites.xxxviii
Here, wolves come to the initiate when he is in a state closely
resembling a lucid dream.xxxix
The wolves communicate with him by means of this liminal state, by
“making it as if he has eaten peyote, so they can talk to him”;
then the wolves might indicate acceptance of the shaman by licking
and urinating on him, claiming him as one of their own. The very
next night, the shaman again holds vigil–only now explicitly under
the influence of “the powerful wolf-kiéri plant.”xl
Though
Solandra species are definitely known and used by the Wolves,
it is possible that Temay’s use of the term ‘wolf-kiéri,’
like ‘wolf-peyote,’ may be applied to other plants, which are as
distinct from kiéri as A. muscaria is from peyote.
When asked about the Wolf-plants Temay replied,
“One
eats wolf-kiéri in order to have an exhibition, a vision, of what it
will be like to become a wolf. One usually eats the kiéri one time,
unless for some reason he doesn’t understand or see well. Then he
will take it another time, until he learns how to do everything.
There are only two kiéri plants that teach people about becoming
wolves. The one in Kuyetuaripa
and another one not far from there, in Nalatawoatua.
But many people eat peyote when they want to become wolves, because
the peyote provides the strength and energy one needs to run and keep
up with them.” xli
Regarding
the Wolf-foods, Valadez reports that Temay “seemed cautious in
discussing them, but gave the distinct impression that he ate them
anyway, once, as his final test as an apprentice wolf shaman, and
again while participating in the wolf peyote ceremonies, when he
readily tasted the mushrooms he called “wolf peyote.”xlii
The
final requirement before transformation can take place, is the
tasting of several very bitter plants that are considered
“wolf-food.” Though Valadez reports that these plants are not
psychoactive,xliii
it is supremely likely that this particular test, as the culmination
of more than five years of intense preparation, is a much more
climatic event than simply forcing oneself to eat unusual and
terrible-tasting plants.
Since
Temay repeatedly refers to Wolf-kiéri, and the red mushroom
that he calls Wolf-peyote, and because we have corroborating evidence
from Ramón Medina and ‘Serratos’ regarding the shamanic use of
the ‘red mushrooms,’ we must assume that Wolf-kiéri and
Wolf-peyote are (or originally were) among these bitter foods that
represent the final test of the aspiring Wolf-shaman, and that it
is these plant-spirits which guard(ed) the final threshold of
Wolf-nahualism.xliv
Given the general predilection of Wolf-shamans for entheogenic
herbalism and the fact that Solandra and Brugmansia
species, peyote and A. muscaria are all known
Wolf-sacraments,xlv
it is difficult to imagine that an entheogen would not
be taken during this climatic event.
All
of this is not to mention that Temay himself gave Valadez the
“distinct impression” that he had eaten A. muscaria during
his own “final test as an apprentice Wolf-shaman.” Apparently
Temay has a broader, entheogenic understanding–as should we–of
his statement that “if you want to turn into a wolf, you must eat
like one.”xlvi
Bibliography
Ayala,
Nahara and Carlos Ochoa. 1998. Hongos conocidos de Baja
California, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California.
Fikes,
Jay C. 1985. Huichol Indian Identity and Adaptation.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
Heinrich,
Clark. 1995. Strange Fruit: A Speculative History of Magical
Foods. London: Bloomsbury.
Lumholtz,
Carl. 1973. Unknown Mexico, Vol. 2. Glorieta, N.M.: The Rio
Grande Press, Inc.
Negrín,
Juan. 1975. The Huichol Creation of the World. Sacramento:
E.B. Crocker Art Gallery.
–––––.
1977. El Arte Contemporaneo de los Huicholes. Guadalajara:
Universidad de Guadalajara.
Sidky,
H. 1997. Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs, and
Disease : An Anthropological Study of the European Witch-Hunts.
New York: Peter Lang.
Valadez,
Susan in Furst, Peter T. and Stacy B. Schaefer, Eds. 1996. “Wolf
Power and Interspecies Communication in Huichol Shamanism” Ch. 9 of
People of the Peyote: Huichol Indian History, Religion and
Survival. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Wasson,
V.P., and R.G. Wasson. 1957. Mushrooms, Russia and History.
New York: Pantheon Books.
Wasson,
R.G. 1968. Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality. New York:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Wasson,
R.G., S. Kramrisch, J. Ott, and C.A.P. Ruck. 1986. Persephone’s
Quest: Entheogens and the Origins of Religion. New Haven,
Connecticut and London: Yale University Press.
Zingg,
Robert M. 1938. The Huichols: Primitive Artists. New York:
G.E. Stechert.
–––––.
1934. Huichol Mythology. Typed ms, 370 pages. Publication
pending, Tucson: Arizona State University. (Citations follow the
English version of the unpublished ms.)
NOTES
i
Following Valadez, I am careful in referring to this group of
shamans as a “cult,” though this is not a completely inaccurate
description. “Wolf-shamanism” is sensitive to the internal
fluidity and variety of traditions common to Huichol shamanism
generally, and to this group specifically, which is perhaps best
described in terms in terms of a shamanic ‘society.’ For matters
of convenience I refer to members and initiates of this ‘cult’
as “Wolf-shamans,” and “Wolves.”
ii
Valdez 1996 (in Schaeffer & Furst) remarks on the lack of
published research on Huichol Wolf-shamanism. The important sources
include Lumholz (1902), Zingg (1938) and Benítez (1968) as well as
an unpublished dissertation by Fikes (1985), and a currently
in-press manuscript of myths collected by Zingg in 1934.
iii
In general, Huichol entheogen use is well documented. This inquiry
necessarily draws heavily upon Valadez’s groundbreaking article
(1996), which did much to document the extraordinarily strong
emphasis of Wolf-shamanism on entheogenic herbalism.
iv
Ulu Temay describes this phenomenon in clearly non-literal terms.
Describing what happens when he ‘turns into a wolf’ he states,
“my body does not change at all, my ears remain the same, and
everything.” (Valadez, 296)
v
Documented evidence of the use of entheogens for this purpose comes
to us especially by way of accounts describing werewolfism (or
lycanthropy) in medieval and early modern Europe. It is
interesting to note the parallels between Old and New world
shape-shifting. In Europe, as among the Huichol, solanceous plants
were commonly used in order to transform into a wolf (Sidky 1997).
Amanita muscaria also is
highly suspect as an agent of inducing bestial blood lust among the
Nordic bezerker
warriors who wore bear and wolf pelts and were said to have become
like ‘ravenous wolves’. An article on shamanic and entheogenic
lycanthrophy in Eurasia will appear in a future issue of Entheos.
vi
Valadez 267. This secrecy pertains to the ‘spirit-double’ or
‘altar-ego’ possessed by the nahual
shaman. As Fikes discusses, it is probably that nahualism
played the common role of providing guardian spirits to those
participating in vision quests, while, when practiced to the extreme
it had the effect of apostatizing shamans as immortal ancestor
deities. (Ibid., 270 & 274)
For an excellent concise discussion of shape-shifting
see Wasson, The Miskwedo of the
Ahnishinaubeg, pages 3-12 above.
vii
Fikes, 267-268. Wolves jealously guard their secrets by killing
those who betray the requirement of sexual continence (Valadez, 276)
and it is widely understood that Huichols risk their lives by
undergoing the mysterious transformation into wolves (Ibid.,, 277).
On the potentially dire consequences of breaking kiéri vows
see Fikes & Carrillo, pages 39-42 above.
viii
It is well documented that entheobotanical practice was considered a
high form of heresy by the Catholic Spanish and their inquisitors,
and was demonized as a satanic form of sorcery, commonly punished
with torture and/or death. It is not surprising that the echoes of
the ‘pharmacratic inquisition’ (as Ott aptly puts it) can be
witnessed today in the general apprehension and ‘secrecy’ of
informants on entheobotanical subjects (Fikes, 278-279).
ix
This is regardless of the fact that Wolf-shamans are no more likely
to practice malicious sorcery than any other shaman. (Valadez, 268).
Also, on the problem of erroneous accusations of sorcery regarding
kiéri shamans see
Fikes and Carrillo above, pg. 40.
x
The ‘witch craze’ of medieval Europe is the western equivalent,
and much can be gained by considering these two contemporaneous
historical events together. Whereas the Western Inquisition was the
climatic continuation of more than a millennium of Christian efforts
against heresy, in the New World the situation was not complicated
by the accretions of centuries of interaction and conflict. In both
contexts, psychoactive and medicinal plants were a defining
characteristic of the pagan and shamanic traditions, and in both
situations this archaic knowledge was prosecuted mercilessly, and
forced underground.
xi
The “identification with these two tutelary spirits is the
ultimate expression of Huichol identity.” Fikes, 247.
xii
Fikes, 248.
xiii
Fikes, 248, 253, 258
xiv
Among the sacred paraphernalia, (initially instigated by the Father
of the Wolves [Kumukemai], who was informed by the hunting deities),
was the “arrow of the wolves”’ (Kumukemai
uruyare) which ensured perpetual
communication between humans and wolves, and “a candle with a
viney plant,” representing long life and fecundity (Valadez, 270).
xv
Valadez, 271.
xvi
In order to even find the deer, these hunters had to consult
Takutsi’s “magical staff,” in which her heart was preserved
when she died (Valadez, 271). This mythogem perhaps
parallels that of the ‘hearts of the Sun’ which come from a
hollow log “at the margin of the sea,” which are to made into
prayer arrows. (Zingg 1934, 74). These were intended as the means by
which the Sun allowed humans to communicate with the Great Gods and
to fight the small pox epidemic. Similar arrows are made from a log
whose sound, when struck, is that of thunder (Ibid., 72).
These ‘stones’ and ‘hearts’ are often suggestive as fungal
metaphors, and like entheogens, they are of the highest ritual
significance. Certain snakes are described as like ‘balls of
cotton’ though they are also snakes (Ibid., 45). Even Grandfather
Fire rests on small stones, upon which he “sits like live coals”
(Ibid., 1) Indeed, such unusual and exceptionally sacred stones are
even eaten (Ibid., 200).
xvii
Valadez, 272. As the deer, of their own free will, leave the safety
of their pen, their role as the martyr of Huichol culture is
prefigured for all time. The fact that this self-immolation resulted
from the eating entheogenic flowers speaks volumes about the place
of entheogenic sacraments among the Huichol; it is also reminiscent
of the Aztec practice of preparing their sacrificial victims with a
similarly inebriating preparation.
Valadez astutely mentions the similarity between this story and the
reported practices of Siberian reindeer hunters, who waited until
reindeer become intoxicated from eating the fly agaric, which made
them easier to kill. She speculates that yellow flowers described in
the myth could be kiéri, and cites Benítez (1968, 280-281)
on the use of kiéri pollen to “confuse and entrance” the
deer on a ritual hunt. Fikes (1985, 216-218) also describes the use
of kiéri pollen in this context.
xviii
Not to be confused with the Deer-Person, (Kauyumári), though
Kauymáli had also taken deer form. (Zingg 1934, 92) Elder Brother
Wolf but was also defined as “half-bad.” His sexual misdeeds
caused Tacutzi to give him a new name, Kauymáli. His sacrilegious
offspring are identified as modern Mexicans (Ibid., 186). Fernando
Benítez distinguished Nuipashikuri, the mythical Huichol sexual
deviant, from the deformed Wolf-Man called Mautiwaki, noting that
the latter’s deformity was a punishment for a sexual transgression
committed during his avowed period of sexual continence. As Benítez
recognized (1968a, 446-451; 1968b: 222-223), Zingg’s composite
character known as Kauymáli / Kuimáli combined attributes of
Nuipashikuri and Mautiwaki and then merged them with Kauyumári, the
world-organizer and tutelary spirit of Huichol healers and singers.
Other anomalies pertaining to Kauyumári’s character have been
specified by Fikes (Fikes, 53)
xix
This is typical of lesser known myths where Wolf Person is
considered “half-bad” (Zingg 1934 & 1938).
xx
Zingg 1934, 113. Though this ‘one-footedness’ is probably to be
interpreted as ‘one-leggedness’ (as is the case with the
Hyperborean [and all other mythological] ‘Single-foots’), I am
following the literal narrative of Zingg’s informant.
xxi
The single-eye, single-foot theme has been explored by Wasson and
Ruck (see especially Wasson et al, 1986). A few notable
examples being the Classical Greek, European, Indian and Mayan
civilizations.
xxii
Zingg 1938, 236, fn. 23, 24; p.347, fn.131. Grandfather Fire was
also born of a stone, near the sea (Zingg 1934, 1).
xxiii
Ibid., 93-94.
xxiv
On the fiery attributes of A. muscaria
see Wasson, 1968 and Heinrich, 1995.
xxv
On snakes injecting mushrooms with their venom see Wasson &
Wasson, 1957.
xxvi
Negrín has published a very similar yarn painting, with narrative,
by José Benítez Sanchez entitled Los Muertos se Reúnen Debajo
de un Hongo (The Dead Meet Beneath a Mushroom) (1977,
Plate 30, p.129). Our figure 2 was created by José Benítez’s
son, Elisio, and is typical of the ancient mythological and artistic
motif linking mushrooms and the Land of the Dead. Additional
examples can be found at
www.entheomedia.com/wolves
xxvii
The other ‘first plants’ include tomatoes, onions, peppers, a
legume called guajes, and two species of prickly pear cactus
or nopales. (Negrin 1975, 82).
xxviii
One such myth describes the pursuit of deer person by Huichol
hunters. Buzzard directs Deer Person to take refuge in the shade of
five pine trees, in the mountains. When Buzzard returns, he searches
beneath each of said trees, eventually finding the corpse of Deer
Person, infested with maggots. Licking off the maggots, Buzzard
brings Deer Person back from the dead (Zingg 1934, 51-51).
The probable connection of the Deer with Amanita muscaria
mythology isn’t surprising given that Wolf-peyote might well also
be identified with the sacrificed body of Deer Person, as is peyote
proper and kiéri.
xxix
Ulu Temay, whose Spanish name was Santos Aguilar Carrillo, (Valadez,
268) is now deceased (Valadez, personal communication).
xxx
Valadez, 299.
xxxi
Temay continues, “They say this is their peyote, but it is not
their peyote. I tried some of it, just a little bit. It didn’t
feel like peyote, it felt different. It felt like I was off the
ground, like I was in a gentle wind that lifted me off the ground”
When I eat peyote I can touch the ground, but with this I couldn’t.
I didn’t eat more of it because I did not know what would happen
to me.” (Ibid., 295)
xxxii
Ibid., 300. Medina’s yarn painting also includes representations
of kiéri flowers.
xxxiii
Please visit
www.entheomedia.com/wolves
for additional images.
xxxiv
Fikes, personal communication. Kauyumárie’s birthplace, Hurihuari
is in a pine forest in the high sierra (Fikes, 251). Wolves occur in
Mexico where pine trees grow, and the primary sacred spots visited
by would-be Wolf-shamans are located in pine forests (personal
communication, Jay Fikes). In addition to the fact that these
shamans seem to have local access to A.
muscaria in the pine forests of the Sierra
Madre, we are able to document the occurrence of this mushroom in
Baja. (Ayala & Ochoa 1998).
Another possible piece of
evidence connecting the Wolves with their fungal entheogen has to do
with the fact that, when in wolf form, the trickster wolves give the
shaman wolf-food to eat, including pine sap (Valadez, 298). We
might well ask why pine sap is considered the food of wolves, and in
what other ways wolves might be mythologically associated with pine
trees, the mycorrhizal host–and therefore source–of their
entheogen.
xxxv
Fikes, personal communication.
xxxvi
Fikes, 320-321. Eating these foods would turn the shaman into a wolf
permanently. This taboo was not observed by Ulu Temay.
xxxvii
This unsolicited yarn painting is of unknown origin, and was found
in a Santa Cruz, California shop window as this article was being
prepared. Thanks to Anandi Heinrich and Clark Heinrich for finding
and sharing this interesting piece.
xxxviii
Valadez, 283. In the sixth (and last) year, the aspiring
Wolf-shamans complete the initiation process with the “ceremony of
the wolves” (Kumukita Waitowe)
at the place of the Red Wolf, where the apprenticeship started. The
aspirant travels again to each of the Wolf power spots, in ascending
order. If they are granted power at the lesser places, they are
never to learn the ultimate secret of transformation, which can only
be achieved at Muxia Uxiye. Without being specific, Temay also
mentions that a gourd bowl is brought that contains, “special
plants the wolves like to eat” (Ibid., 284).
The maize beer described here is an important
ceremonial drink among the Huichol. Even the gods partake of this
nawá (also tejuino)
to achieve inebriation. According to José Benítez it was such
drunkenness that allowed Watákame to remove the ‘voice’ of the
ancestors, who must now communicate ‘secretly’ through Huichol
shamans who are informed, in turn, by Kauyumárie (Negrín 1975,92).
xxxix
“He feels as if he is awake, but he is sleeping.” (Valadez, 285)
xl
Ibid., 285. Though in this context Temay is explicit that
this kiéri is a flower, it is interesting to note that the
Wolf-kiéri is found on a mountain top (wolves often being
associated with their mountainous habitat [Ibid., 294]), which he
climbs to obtain the kiéri. Atop the mountain, at the base
of the kiéri plant, the initiate leaves a red arrow in
addition to other offerings (on kiéri offerings see Fikes &
Carrillo above, page 41) and eats the kiéri flower. During
the visions that follow, the wolves come again and the initiate,
though still human and still afraid, begins to feel as if he is
becoming wolf-like (Ibid., 286-287).
xli
Ibid., 287. In this instance, Temay doesn’t explicitly identify
the other wolf-kiéri
plant, though he does touch on an important trait of both peyote and
A. muscaria–that they provide uncommon strength and stamina to
those that are required to perform exceptionally difficult physical
tasks–such as keeping up with wolves, or chasing down a deer.
Huichols have told me of individuals who are able to overtake a deer
by foot, though they made no reference to Wolf-shamans.
Lumholtz
didn’t identify the “yerba de lobo” but does report that it
allegedly turned shamans to wolves after eating it five times (1902,
206).
xlii
Valadez, 299.
xliii
Ibid., 288.
xliv
It is yet another full month before the shape-shifting will finally
take place, on a “steep hill in the wolf territory” known as
Cerro de Kumutemai (Wolf Mountain). Here, Temay’s narrative
seems to loose some cohesion, as he perhaps intentionally obfuscates
as to the secret processes by which the shaman transforms. He
describes a series of ritual somersaults, (in each direction), and
five turns, after which “he turns into a wolf” and is greeted by
his wolf-friends, who will take him deer hunting. (Ibid., 289)
xlv
These plants, unlike peyote and psilocybin mushrooms can also
explain the inherent risk of life when consuming transforming into a
wolf. Though it is true that A. Muscaria cannot be
considered a potentially lethal sacrament, it sometimes induces
conditions in which the inebriated individual feels as if they are
dying.
xlvi
Paraphrased from Valadez 288, “if he wants to turn into a wolf, he
must eat like one.”
